Annual Maintenance Inspections

Spring is here, and with that comes the thought of all of the Spring Maintenance projects that we all take on annually. Cleaning the outside of the windows, repainting decks that suffered the winter snow and rains. Re-working, tilling, replanting and mulching the flower beds.

There are numerous items that we have on our list. Most of these items are ones that we perform every year at this same time, but there are also a number of jobs that should be performed annually that most homeowners just don't think about.

Do you, as a homeowner, climb up onto your roof and look at the roofing materials? Do you look at the siding, check the areas that may be coming in contact with your roofing material? Do you look at the chimney (if you have one)? Do you check the chimney cap, or the mortar around and on top of the chimney? Do you inspect the crawl space of your home (where applicable)? Do you check the support structure of your deck system?

When getting ready to work your flower beds do you look at the grade to make certain it is angling the correct direction, so that surface water will run away from the foundation of your home? While working the beds do you inspect for wood destroying insects? Do you look at your siding material for water damage from snow, back splashing from rain water, water damage from the sprinkler system?

These are just a few of the items that a Certified Home Inspector would be looking for when performing an Annual Maintenance Inspection. The Annual Maintenance Inspection is much like a Home Buyers or Sellers Inspection, but it is also a little more cosmetically intensive than a regular Home Inspection.

The cost for this type of inspection will vary depending on the size of your home, the area you live in, the intensity of the inspection you request. Many Home Inspection Companies will make adjustments to their inspections based upon your personal requirements. Most will have a standard program that they follow, as well as different levels of inspections that you can choose from.

Annual Home Maintenance Inspections are a GREAT idea, especially for those home owners that don't perform their own maintenance, but hire outside contractors. Keep in mind, a respectable Home Inspection Company does not perform home maintenance. They may have a list of contractors that they would recommend for certain projects, but they won't recommend only one.

We, as Certified Home Inspectors, have a Code of Ethics that we must abide by. In this code of ethics it is stated that we cannot perform any work on any residence that we inspect for a period of 12 months after the inspection. Keep this in mind when going over the final inspection report with the inspector.

So, if you are preparing for those annual maintenance projects, and don't know quite where to begin, consider hiring a Certified Home Inspector to help point you in the right direction.

Chuck Forman has more than 30 years in the residential home construction industry. He is an InterNACHI Certified Home Inspector in the Denver Colorado Metro area. He is also a Certified Indoor Air Consultant. You can learn more about Chuck, and his company Forman Inspection Services, LLC by going to his website at www.FormanInspectionServices.com